Toyota Reveals a New Tacoma TRD T|X Baja 4x4

It must be frustrating for the TRD guys, watching SVT and Mopar have all the fun. The SVT Raptor draws lot of attention every time a small change gets made to it, and with the Mopar Ram Runner stepping into the ring, there’s bound to be big buzz as those two battle it out.

But what about Toyota? It might be enough to give any engineering group an inferiority complex. But Toyota has more than 30 years of desert racing history behind them, and the team at TRD has put together its most extreme performance package to date, called the Tacoma TRD T|X Baja.

Toyota released the  last year, but the engineers knew there was more performance to be had with just a few more changes. The special package uses longer and stronger TRD coils in front with heavy-duty Bilstein race shocks, while the rear end uses the same leaf spring pack but uses remote reservoir Bilsteins.

The result is about an inch of extra travel in front and about 1.5 inches more travel in back. But, as you might imagine, the setup is designed to handle significant downforce, like the force you might experience when “accidentally” taking a jump.

The T|X Baja Series Tacoma will have all the same interior and exterior styling changes we saw in the new 2012 Tacoma, with rear decals added. The Baja Series will be offered in Access Cab or Double Cab configuration and will include the 4.0-liter V-6 with a choice of a six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission.

As you might expect for a serious off-road package, it also includes an electronically controlled locking rear differential, Toyota’s A-TRAC traction control system, hill start assist, hill descent control and 265/70R16 BFGoodrich all-terrain tires. Pricing will be announced at a later date.

More pictures below.